PepsiCo laying off 8,700; 2012 adj profit to drop

SteveGelsi

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- PepsiCo Inc.
PEP, +1.39%
said Thursday it'll cut its global work force by 3%, or 8,700 people to generate $1.5 billion in savings by 2014 in a transitional 2012 for the soft drink and snacks giant. PepsiCo expects adjusted 2012 earnings to fall 5% from $4.40 a share in 2011. Wall Street analysts expect 2012 earnings of $4.53 a share for PepsiCo, according to a FactSet Research survey. The company will boost its annual dividend by 4% to $2.15 a share and buy back at least $3 billion in stock in 2012. It'll boost its marketing spend by up to $600 million this year. For the fourth quarter, PepsiCo said it's profit rose 4% to $1.42 billion, or 89 cents a share, from $1.37 billion, or 85 cents a share in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings in the latest quarter totaled $1.15, while revenue rose 11% to $20.2 billion. Analysts estimated earnings of $1.13 a share and revenue of $19.89 billion.

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